“Don’t act like you wanted this, Ajax! You were just killing time until someone better came along. And she did! I should have known it was going to happen. I’ve never been enough when it comes to her and May. Well, if I can get them out of my life, maybe I can find someone who wants me!” I shouted at him. His face showed what looked like shock.
The curtain tore back and there stood Dr. Newton. She looked pissed. She marched over to my bedside and fiddled with the machine. That’s when I realized I was hooked up to it and what looked like fluids. An alarm was going off. She whipped around and got in Ajax’s face.
“You need to leave! You’re making it worse. Do you want her to lose this baby?” she snarled. Ajax stepped back and held up his hands. He had a look of panic on his face.
“No! No, I don’t want her to lose our baby. I just need her to listen to me. She’s all mixed up and thinks I’ve slept with her stepsister. I didn’t, goddamn it. I love Jessica. I want to keep her and our baby safe. What’s wrong with them?”
She relaxed a little. I could see that he sounded so sincere and broken. An inkling of doubt started to tease me. Was he telling the truth? Had he not slept with Melody? Did he love me? Was he happy about the baby? I tried to not let the thoughts make me happy.
Before she could answer, Bull walked in, but he wasn’t alone. Right behind him was Demon. I was surprised to see him until I saw him looking at Dr. Newton like she was dessert, and he was dying of a sweet tooth. I almost couldn’t hold back my laugh. She was trying to look anywhere but at him.
“What’s wrong?” Bull asked. Demon came around him and stood next to the doc. She inched away from him.
“Nothing. Your friend needs to leave. He’s upsetting her and it’s not good for her or the baby. I need to check her out. Only one person is allowed back here per patient. It’s hospital policy,” she told them sternly.
“Well, babe, that’s too bad, because Jess here is my brother’s old lady. She’s in danger and so is that baby. We’re here to protect her. You’ll have to get used to seeing a few of us around. If you have any questions or problems, you can come to me,” Demon purred. She gave him a narrow-eyed look.
“Yeah, I’ll do that. Okay, Jessica, tell me what you want. I can get rid of them even if they think I can’t. I need to examine you and check on the baby. The heartbeat sounds good, but we want to be sure.” Hearing her say heartbeat made me realize not only was mine coming across that machine, but another one from a different machine. This one was faster. I shot Ajax a glance. He was staring at the machine with a look of wonder on his face. Damn it! I couldn’t kick him out no matter what I wanted to do.
This was his baby too. Maybe we could figure things out and co-parent this kid. We didn’t need to be together to give him or her two parents. Time to see if that was the way to go. Besides, I was tired and just wanted to sleep. The last two weeks have been hell.
“It’s okay, Dr. Newton. He can stay. Do whatever you need to be sure the baby is okay. Did you find anything that would tell you why I fainted like I did?”
Bull went to stand outside the door. Demon stood there with his arms crossed on his chest, staring at the doc. She shot him a funny look then turned her back on him.
“Well, it looks like it was just a case of exhaustion coupled with some dehydration and being anemic. Have you not been eating? Your iron levels are low, and I would like to see your folic acid levels higher. Have you been taking your prenatal and folic acid supplements?” I gave Ajax and Demon a nervous look. They both nodded.
“I was, but for the last two weeks, I was being held and I didn’t have those to take. They only fed me once a day, along with me having to drink what I could get out of the tap.” She froze.
“What? That’s why you were saying you were in danger and needed to talk to security. Shit, we need to get the cops here. Let me call—” Demon grabbed her hand as she pulled her cell phone out of her coat pocket.
“Doc, no need to do that. We have this. Besides, Bull is friends with Chief Scarelli. He’ll be talking to him about this. Why don’t you check out my brother’s baby, so they know it’s alright?” he told her softly. She stood, looking at him with a frown on her face for a minute. As I watched, she took a deep breath.
“I’m going to trust you on this, stud, but if I find out you lied, I’ll kick your ass,” she hissed. He laughed.
“Deal. And by the way, the name isn’t stud, though you can call me that if you want. It’s Demon. You can call me Luca when we’re alone. Luca Moretti,” he told her with a wink. I was shocked. I hadn’t even known what his real name was. She smirked.
“I think I’ll stick with Demon. My name is Dr. Newton, but you can call me doctor,” she told him with a wink of her own. All three of us burst out laughing. I had to admit, they were fun to watch and were taking my mind off the deep shit I was in. When we all sobered up, she got back down to business.
“I’m going to have the tech bring in the ultrasound machine. We need to check out the baby and see that everything is developing alright. Do you know how far along you are? When was the last time you went to the doctor?”
“I have an idea, but I don’t know for sure. I know the date of my last period,” I told her. My face got red as I said that in front of Demon. The asshole chuckled. He came over and gave me a kiss on the forehead. Ajax growled at him. He grinned harder.
“I’ll step outside, sweetness, but when she’s done, we all want to know what you’re having. We have to get ready for another Warrior heathen,” he teased before he sauntered out the door. I caught Dr. Newton looking at his ass. We shared a look—one just between us girls. Even if I was dead, these guys would make me sit up and take notice. Not as much as Ajax did, but still.
“He’s gone. Tell me the date of your last period.”
“It was September first.”
“Are they usually regular? How many days in between? Were you using anything for birth control?” Ajax sat down on the edge of the bed and took my hand.
“I start one every twenty-eight days. I was on a low dose estrogen/progesterone type pill. I don’t think I ever missed any of them.”
“It can still happen. Some women even with that can get pregnant if you don’t take it at the same time every day. Based on your last period,” she fiddled with something on her phone, “you should be twenty-one weeks along and due around the eighth of June. The ultrasound will confirm if we’re correct or not. Let’s get you set. The tech should be here any minute.”
She helped me to get my gown pulled up and the sheet tucked down low enough to cover my privates. As we got ready, Ajax sat there quietly. He hadn’t said a word since she told me how far along she thought I was. Was he reconsidering this baby thing? She asked a few questions about symptoms I’d been having. As we finished up, there was a knock and in came a young woman. She wheeled a machine over to the bedside.
Between her and Dr. Newton, they got my stomach gelled up and the wand moving over my little pooch. Ajax was leaning over me, watching the screen intently. The tech was clicking and typing.
“She’s taking measurements, which helps to tell us how far along you are. You look on track to be twenty-one weeks, Jessica. Though the baby is a tad small, it could be just how you carry. We’ll work on getting you to gain some more weight. Based on the usual weight you put on your forms and what the bed read when we checked you at admission, you need to gain more. You should have gained about thirteen pounds by now and it has been only nine. Over the remainder of the pregnancy, if you can get to a total of twenty-five pounds, I’ll be happy.”
“Does everything else look alright? Can you tell what the baby is?” Ajax asked out of the blue. Dr. Newton smiled.
“Everything I can see looks good. I recommend you get into an obstetrician as soon as possible to double-check. Heartbeat is nice and strong and regular. And yes, I can tell what it is. Do you guys want to know, or wait to be surprised?”
I looked at him. I had been wanting to know, but with him now possibly being involved, I wanted to see what he preferred.
“We’ll get her in to see Doc Foreman. He’s the one who took care of Jocelyn and Devyn plus Madisen sees him. As far as knowing what the baby is, I’d like to know but it’s up to Jessica.” He looked at me hopefully. I nodded at the doctor. She winked.
“Well, you two, it looks like you’re going to have…” she paused for suspense. I wanted to yell at her to quit torturing me. She laughed at the expression on my face. “It’s a baby girl. Make sure to make him suffer through an explosion of pink,” she teased. He stood there as if stunned. He didn’t say a word. She hurried up and got the tech out of there, leaving us alone with the news. She’d seen his face. Maybe he was one of those guys who wouldn’t want anything to do with a girl. Didn’t most guys want a son? Dread filled my chest.